Universal furniture glide



3 1967 F. N. REYNOLDS UNIVERSAL FURNITURE GLIDE Filed March 4, 1965 INK (ll-ll lll-)l INVENTOR freare K gamma United States Patent Ofiice 3,317,948 Patented May 9, 1967 3,317,948 UNIVERSAL FU NITURE GLIDE Frederick N. Reynolds, Augusta, Ky., assignor to The F. A. Neider Company, Augusta, Ky., a corporation of Kentucky Filed Mar. 4, 1965, Ser. No. 437,188 4 Claims. (Cl. 16-42) This invention relates to furniture glides and is particularly directed to a glide construction that is fabricated as a separate unit for attachment to the legs of chairs, stools and tables, or the like.

The main object of this invention is to provide a glide construction that may, with only minor structural changes, be attached universally to furniture legs, which are presently positioned at many different angles relative to the generally horizontal, furniture supporting surfaces. In this respect it is to be understood that present day furniture is designed to have supporting legs which are disposed at vertical, horizontal or acute angles with respect to their supporting surfaces. It is therefore desirable that a single glide unit be supplied that will, with a few minor changes, be adapted for universal attachment to all kinds of angularly disposed furniture legs and it is to this objective that the present invention addresses itself.

It is another object of the invention to provide an extremely simplified, yet rugged glide construction that may be applied to inclined furniture legs.

A further object of the invention is to provide a ball and socket glide that is simple and inexpensive and can be readily installed in asecure manner to furniture legs disposed at any angle relative to the furniture supporting surfaces and which, when so installed, will retain the proper support position for the particular leg.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a glide retainer that will firmly attach the glide to the legs of furniture of the type set forth hereinbefore.

With the above and other objects in view, embodiments of the invention are shown in the accompanying drawings and are more fully described in the following specification.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a somewhat enlarged, side elevational view of my furniture glide unit.

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the glide unit shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged section taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 showing a modification of my invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the retainer sleeve for the glides shown in FIGS. 1-4 of the drawings.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a spring washer for the glide constructions of my invention.

Referring to the drawings, my glide unit is shown in connection with the lower terminal end of a tubular furniture leg represented by dotted lines 10 in FIGS. 3 and 4. The furniture leg is preferably circular in lateral configuration and this invention is particularly directed to furniture such as chairs and tables, or the like, that are provided with legs disposed at acute angles with respect to their horizontal supporting surfaces, it being understood that the glide of this invention could also, without change, be applied to furniture legs disposed in either a horizontal or a vertical position. My glide unit, therefore, has universal application to all kinds of furniture legs and includes a glide base part 11 made from a sheet metal stamping and having an upwardly facing, cup shaped semi-cylindrical socket 12 in its central portion. A downwardly and outwardly flaring circular portion 13 that is generally frusto-conical in configuration surrounds the socket, said portion 13 terminating at its lower end in an inturned, peripheral rim 14 which engages the annular edge portion of a suitable floor engaging glide member 15. The glide base has a bearing hole 16 formed in the socket 12 which is disposed off-set with respect to the geometric center of said socket.

The glide unit also has a leg engaging member 17 which takes the form of a hollow, ball-like case 18 that is seated in the socket, said case having formed therein an opening 19 preferably circular in configuration to receive the terminal end portion of the furniture leg 10. A leg engaging retainer member 20 is positioned within the case 18, and as best shown in FIG. 5, the retainer comprises a split sleeve 21 made of hardened spring steel and preferably cylindrical in shape to conform closely to the shape of the furniture leg 10. A number of staggered rows of tines 22 are stamped one-piece in the interior face of the sleeve and project inwardly toward the blind end of the sleeve as it is positioned in the case. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 the retainer sleeve is firmly posit-ioned in the case by an inturned flange portion 23 surrounding the hole 19 therein whereby the center of said hole lies in the center line of the retainer sleeve. The member 20 herein is like the retainer disclosed in my co-pending application for Drive-On Retainer filed July 5, 1966 and given Ser. No. 562,827 by the Patent Ofiice.

A bearing hole 24 is formed in the casing offset with respect to the center line of the sleeve 21 and a pivot means, such as the rivet 25, extends through the bearing holes 16 and 24 to rotatably mount the casing member in the socket 12 of the base for controlled rotative movement. A spring tension washer 26 is utilized to provide frictional engagement between the base and the ball-like case and thereby limit free relative rotative movement between them.

Now with reference to FIG. 3 it will be noted that the axis 27 of the pivot means 25 is disposed at an acute angle with respect to the vertical center line of the semispherical socket 12 and that the center line 28 of the leg engaging retainer sleeve 21 is angularly disposed relative to the axis 27 of the pivot means. When the ball shaped case is rotated in the socket about the axis 27 of the pivot means 25, the center line 28 of the retainer sleeve will continually change in angularity with respect to the horizontal glide supporting surface of the glide member 15 from a parallel position therewith to a position that is substantially fifty degrees (50) with the horizontal, the latter position of the sleeve center line being represented by the broken line 29 in said FIG. 3. Thus the glide unit shown in FIGS. l-3 can be supplied a manufacture for connection with furniture having legs that vary in angularity with the horizontal up to fifty degrees (50). This is accomplished by determining the exact angularity of a particular furniture leg and then being certain to drive the retainer sleeve 21 onto the leg at the proper rotatory angle therewith which will bring the glide member 15 into proper flush engagement with the horizontal supporting surface for that furniture leg.

In the modification shown in FIG. 4 the base has a pivot receiving bearing hole 24 in the identical location in the socket 12 as does the glide shown in FIGS. 1-3, the modified glide differing only in the location of the bearing hole 24 in the ball shaped case 18. As illustrated in said figure the axis 27 of the pivot means 25 is located at an acute angle with respect to the center line 28 of the retainer sleeve 21 and upon rotation of the ball shaped case 18 in the socket 12 and around the pivot means the angularity of the axis of the sleeve retainer 28 will vary up to fifty degrees (50) with respect to the vertical center line of the socket whereby this modification will be applicable to furniture legs that vary in angularity with the horizontal supporting surface from a vertical position there-- with to fifty degrees (50) from said vertical position.

It will therefore be understood that I have provided a novel and simplified glide unit that with a single modification can be utilized on all furniture legs having angular relationships with their supporting surfaces and that I have also provided a retainer means adaptable to the said unit, which will positively secure the unit to the terminals of legs having such varied angularities.

Various modifications of my glide unit may occur to those skilled in the art to which this invention relates and may be made without a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A furniture glide unit comprising a base having a substantially horizontal floor engaging bottom portion, means on the base providing an upwardly opening, semispherical socket having a vertical center line, said socket having a bearing hole formed therein offset with respect to the center line of said socket, a hollow, spherical casing member seated in the socket and having a leg receiving opening formed therethrough, a tubular leg engaging retainer means positioned within the spherical member, in alignment with the opening therein, a bearing hole formed in the spherical member offset with respect to the axial center line of the retainer, and pivot means extending through the bearing holes in the socket and spherical casing member, the axis of said pivot :means forms an acute included angle. with said axial center line, said spherical casing member and said socket having substantially the same radii whereby upon rotation of the casing member in the socket and around the pivot means the angular relation of the floor engaging bottom portion and the leg engaging retainer means may be varied.

2. A furniture glide unit as set forth in claim 1 characterized by the fact that the leg engaging retainer means is a split sleeve of hardened spring metal which has a 4 number of staggered rows of inwardly directed tines stamped in the inner face of the sleeve.

3. A furniture glide unit as set forth in claim 1 characterized by the fact that the pivot means is a rivet and that a tension washer surrounds the rivet and bears against the bearing hole in said socket and the lowermost head of said rivet.

4. A furniture glide unit com-prising a circular base having a substantially horizontal floor engaging glide member, an upwardly opening, semi-spherical socket having a vertical center line formed centrally in the base, said socket having a bearing hole formed therein offset with respect to the vertical center line of said socket, a hollow, spherical casing member seated in the socket and having a leg receiving opening formed therethrough, a leg engaging retainer sleeve positioned within the spherical casing member in alignment with the opening therein, means on the retainer fixing the casing member on the leg against rotatory and axial movments, a bearing hole formed in the spherical casingv member offset with respect to the axial center line of the retainer sleeve, a rivet extending through the bearing holes in the socket and the spherical casing member, the axis of said rivet forms an acute included angle with said axial center line, said spherical casing member and said socket having substantially the same radii and providing rotatory movement of the said member in the socket, and tension washer means associated with the rivet limiting free rotative movement between the casing member and the base.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/1961 Lockwood l642 1/1965 Miller l642 

1. A FURNITURE GLIDE UNIT COMPRISING A BASE HAVING A SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL FLOOR ENGAGING BOTTOM PORTION, MEANS ON THE BASE PROVIDING AN UPWARDLY OPENING, SEMISPHERICAL SOCKET HAVING A VERTICAL CENTER LINE, SAID SOCKET HAVING A BEARING HOLE FORMED THEREIN OFFSET WITH RESPECT TO THE CENTER LINE OF SAID SOCKET, A HOLLOW, SPHERICAL CASING MEMBER SEATED IN THE SOCKET AND HAVING A LEG RECEIVING OPENING FORMED THERETHROUGH, A TUBULAR LEG ENGAGING RETAINER MEANS POSITIONED WITHIN THE SPHERICAL MEMBER, IN ALIGNMENT WITH THE OPENING THEREIN, A BEARING HOLE FORMED IN THE SPHERICAL MEMBER OFFSET WITH RESPECT TO THE AXIAL CENTER LINE OF THE RETAINER, AND PIVOT MEANS EXTENDING THROUGH THE BEARING HOLES IN THE SOCKET AND SPHERICAL CASING MEMBER, THE AXIS OF SAID PIVOT MEANS FORMS AN ACUTE INCLUDED ANGLE WITH SAID AXIAL CENTER LINE, SAID SPHERICAL CASING MEMBER AND SAID SOCKET HAVING SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME RADII WHEREBY UPON ROTATION OF THE CASING MEMBER IN THE SOCKET AND AROUND THE PIVOT MEANS THE ANGULAR RELATION OF THE FLOOR ENGAGING BOTTOM PORTION AND THE LEG ENGAGING RETAINER MEANS MAY BE VARIED. 